This LL>Stella>LL is the only such sandwich I believe.
This was the realization of what Jerry had been working up to with this masterpiece... the first sign of it was San Diego the previous December. Only on six occasions did Jerry perform a vocal closing like this... the others being San Deigo '93, Auburn Hills and Boston '94, and Seattle and St. Louis (the final performance of it) '95.
Stella 50th Anniversary is June 17 2022, and sadly there seems to be no scene-wide commemoration of it... but I'm doing my best to spread the word!
https://www.facebook.com/StellaBlue50th

u can hear weirs cool distorted asides...... he was stuck between two stubborn lead players and ended up being a great rhythm guitar man......

I sang a little while and then flew on.

This show seemed to pick up where they left off the night before. With the the opener, a Blazing Masterpiece, Bobby's vocals seemed to pressurize the venue, sending shockwaves through the crowd setting the tone for what was to come. Bertha rolled from one end of the venue to the other in waves of energy. The boys attempted to take it down a notch with the cool standard "The Same Thing" but only succeeded in taking up several notches to the glorious "Peggy O" and "Queen Jane Approxiamately", "West LA FadeAway" went supersonic and eased into "Eternity" which led the crowd into a sense of serenity, till they busted out the "Tennesee Jed" and knocked it out of the park. The second set took off from the start with an extended jam the morphs into a Matilda Jam-O-Rama leading to drums and space. With the ensuing LoveLight - Stella - Lovelight it became a night to remember!

Someone posted this on the Facebood Grateful Dead Tour Veterans 1990s page so I had me a listen. I pretty much write off anything after 3/24/93 Knickerbocker as being a lost cause, so much to my surprise I'm grooving along to a mighty fine latter-day Grateful Dead event! I'm a stickler for this stuff, so let me just say that Jerry sounds better here than when his voice was first really cracking around '83 - '85ish and he gets most of the words right on throughout. His playing is crisp and concise. I'm even enjoying "Eternity," "Liberty" and what otherwise was a rather played-out "Tennessee Jed". The band had purposeful direction this night and I think you might find this a refreshing break from everything else that year.
Alas, gone are the days of soaring guitar, truly inspired guitar work. I agree, they should have hung it up for a year or two, chillaxed about and returned to it when the spirit so moved them.

Sorry to all who love it . Is not my kind of show. I like the smaller more mellow crowds of my touring days. (4 , 95 , and beyond do nothing for me. Many of my old touring friends will say I should at least check out a Further show can't do it.
Like someone else said it gets 1 star because it is the band I love just not same as the one I love

that I saw. Entire show is beautiful and all songs mesh together to make a wonderful tapestry.
The Fennario is one of my favourite versions. Jerry is at his soulful best. As others have noted, the Stella Blue... unreal. One of my favorite things about Jerry is well represented here: I seldom have heard another artist who can convey such emotion through both instrument and voice. Simply chilling. And the He's Gone > Matilda into the drums was wild. I remember dancing through drums and space. Not a common occurrence for me.
Also, I think Vince (towards whom I think I am often unfairly critical) played a great, creative show.
The sound mix is wonderfully rich. Each instrument and voice is full and crisp. Drum levels are great. I wish Phil were a little higher in the mix, but that's my only complaint.
A side note... my brother, sister, friend and I stayed at a nearby Holiday Inn. After the previous nights show, my brother (drunk out of his mind) was running around the hotel causing mayhem (but friendly, relatively harmless hippie-type mayhem). He pilfered a bunch of tea bags from one of the hotel conference rooms. I can still see him bounding into our room, raving drunk and overjoyed at the tea booty he brought back from his hunt. I sure do love hippie weirdness. Those were the days.

Yes! I remember taping this show off the GD Hour sometime in mid '94. I was a sophomore in high school and fairly new to the band and remember really being blown away with this show, particularly the Stella Blue (Best Stella of all time, IMHO). I played this tape end to end every day until my '87 Corolla ate it! This show gave me hope for the future of the Grateful Dead. A sign they could still pull it together if conditions were right. Even though my only three GD shows came after this, in hindsight, I really wish they would have ended this tour and taken '95 off. Unfortunately, the money machine had to keep on truckin. But at what cost?

I was living part time between three different cities in the early 90s for work/school reasons and had several circles of 'heads I moved with. Ohio shows (Richfield and Buckeye) were the ones where my "worlds would collide." I loved it when that happened, and it started life-long relationships among all these people for whom I was unassumingly the common link. So much fun. But this being Monday, not everybody stayed, so it was down to the core 'peeps, and four of us stubbed the remaining two down to the floor, where the six of us set up camp 15 or so rows deep, Phil side. There was often an early indication when a special night was in the making, and I'll never forget towards the end of Bertha, all of us kind of looking at each other when Jerry gave us the extra "'til it goes down." Moreover, my buddy Dave and I were "anymore counters," on Bertha renditions; we were up to eight and giving each other that look before being stunned when the count ceased at 13. Nice. Was living in Tennessee then and the four of us who had to head back there after the show were loving the first set 'Jed send-off. And we always got great He's Gone's in Ohio (Buckeye June '91 being one I remember quite well as soulful). Obviously, the Lovelight>Stella>Lovelight needs no more mention; I can only add to its legend with this: It was played on the GD Hour on the radio as soon as that July, I think. I used to tape the GD Hour the old fashioned way via Lightning 100.1 in Nashville. David Gans introduced the segment from this show as "[lovelight into] a spectacular rendition of Stella Blue back into [Lovelight]." It was like a 3-month or less turnaround. In my time taping the GDHour, I can't recall many shorter delays from stage-to-airwaves.
Now the year before on spring tour, Richfield was the infamous blizzard/Holiday Inn takeover, of which I was a blessed participant and can recount that story in the proper space.
But after this night in suburban Cleveland, many brothers and sisters packed the nearby and woefully unprepared Denny's. Wondering if anyone remembers? I don't know why, but I think we spent like 3 or more hours there to get some coffee and breakfast. At one point, two lawmen came in and sat right at that counter and had their fill in minutes. Classic. Luckily none of them came into the men's room while gearing up for the 8+ hour drive down 71 & 65 with coffee's whiter, stronger cousin. We still talk about the Denny's experience: a herd of 'heads; shocked, worn out and understaffed cooks and servers; and johnny law to complete the scene.
Five stars for the memories, excellent recording and all the diehards who stuck around for primetime Monday Night Deadball.

Man, the He's Gone sounds great. Jerry also hits some crazy high notes in the vocal outro of Stella Blue. The Lovelight > Stella > Lovelight is great. They should've tried it a few more times and smoothed it out. Alas, there really weren't many more times. Sigh.

This is one of those shows I will never forget!
We're heading into the drumz segment of the show and the guys are walking off to let the drummers do their thing.Jerry starts to set his guitar down,then thinks again and picks it up and starts to noodle to what the drummers are doing.Jerry stands there at his guitar stand(stage right) with his back to the crowd and slowly moves into the beautiful Matilda jam that you hear after He's Gone.About two minutes into the jam I look up and I see Bill smile at Mickey with this,"WTF is he doing?" look on his face.Mickey continues drumming,shrugs his shoulders and smiles back.The music is playing the band...one of those magical moments.

okay...here is my story of this night. a night that changed my life forever. THE night that put me on the Golden Road.
i was a freshman at the College of Wooster. a mere 40 minute drive to Richfield. a new friend and fellow Head broke me off about nine seeds of a plant called Hawaiian Baby Woodrose Seeds. i'd never heard of the shit. but i was young and eager. you know. you were the same. we are all similar. we craved transcendence. it is why we found the Dead.
anyway...me in my baggy pants and brand new Rob Dyrdek Alien Workshop Slick Skin deck (nigga...i'm a ninteties Head so fuck you if you don't like me) skating through the huge paved lot. i scrape the skin off the seeds as was instructed and i ingest.
the horror. this trip was awful. i got separated from my friends. i was alone. i accidently stepped on a beautiful flower girl when the lights went out as the show began. paranoia crept into my mind. fear everywhere. i was young. spun. lost. and confused. every face was a stranger and nobody liked me. i was the guy bringing bad vibes to the scene.
i flipped my jacket around my shoulders and accidently smacked some poor soul in his face. he shot me a negative vibe. i was a noobie. stupid. clueless. a Touch of Gray pussy that everyone resented. bad bad trip.
smart enough to know when i was in too deep. i asked a security guard where the Red Cross was so i could check myself in and be in a safe place. i remember being terrified of Drums/Space because i knew the boys will take you out of your skull if you let them.
in the makeshift clinic behind the stage i spent Bertha through Lovelight in absolute terror. at one point i wanted them to hospitalize me because i thought i was going insane. there was another Head in the clinic who was completely out of his fucking skull. he was a thresh-hold trickster to my psychedelicized mind. he pulled down his dirty pants and started to masturbate while starring into my eyes. it was sick. i was terrified. the nurses came in and restrained him.
after an hour or so of terror, i realized i had to piss. the kindly nurse assured me that i'd be okay and that the restrooms were just outside the clinic. i went in in a state of nightmarish paranoia. i was able to function enough to pee in the proper place and not piss all over myself or the venue.
as i walked out of the pisser the opening chords of Stella Blue rang through my ears. in an instant. a flash. the .33 of a second of the moment between what happens and when our brains perceive reality, that moment that Neal Cassady lived his life in, i went from hell to heaven. Jerry's notes fluttered through my soul and his voice cleared the fear from my mind. i began to grooove.
i looked up and the kindly nurse had come out to see if i was going to return to the makeshift clinic. she saw me dancing. she smiled at me and waved goodbye. and i danced. and i've never stopped dancing. thank you, Jerry. thank you, Grateful Dead.

Good to hear this one. This was the second time I saw the boys. That "Stella" is somethin'. Someone out there has to have a tasty AUD of this that they can upload... anyone, anyone? I'd like to have it "on the shelf" if you know what I mean...

It was a long day...my girlfriend and I sold many of you Heineken and Moosehead for 2 bucks a piece, three for five...and when our five cases of beer were sold out we went and spent every last damn dime and it was worth it! Party favors galore...Concert was fantastic, a little wobbly...but maybe you guys remember the cops and how they cleared the parking lot...I looked up from my balloon and it looked like they were just sweeping a big broom to get us out of there...we drove the three miles to some little dead head sanctuary on a park or something and enjoyed ourselves further...miss those days.

I know how it sound , how many times have you been thier befor but i really was at this show, the best thing of all it was the first show i went to with my pop. I'll never forget when they went into lovelight, stella, lovelight how pumped pop was.

This is one of the last great performance by Jerry. There were some good ones after this but even so it's hit and miss. Sound quality is grate. If you like this check out 7-19-94 and 10-1-94.

God I love those guys.

As a new fan of the Dead it was years before I realized the importance of the tears streaming down the face of the girl beside me. She seemed have a religious experience. Now I know why be kind JJ

My first posted message. I have read the reviews of this show and see that there are a few people with opinions, haha! The Stella is a really, really good one, that is not in doubt. But...if you have to hear a better one it can be found on 12/12/90 McNichols Arena in Denver Co. This entire show is a smokin' HOT 5 STAR show!! The Stella is perfect in virtually every way. Vocals(nailed), guitar solo(like a water fall, rainbow), and the extra vocalization at the end makes it the best I have ever heard. I saw about 350 shows from summer of '87 right thru the final 24 shows in a row to close out the band in '95. Check out this whole show, there are no let downs. By the way, if you like "The Weight", Bruce Hornsby brings the band full circle with it. Should have been Bruce in the band, not Vince.

This was a fine, fine show. The Acoustics inside Richfield are like no other venue I have ever been too. And there no crowd better than Cleveland!! There was not a dry eye in the place(including the band) during Stella. I still get a tear everytime I hear it. What a fun show. worth the download. I give it a five for the time period and becouse its one of my favorites that I personally saw. If you get confused.....

Incredible Stella. And to you, Aiko, and your reference to Cornell,'77....there was no Stella at Cornell that year....do you mean Colgate U on 11-4-77...another fabulous Stella Blue in a really sweet show!
Can only rate Stella..didn't listen to the whole show yet....but 5 stars for Stella!

Rich feild was always fun exspecially when your hanging with your mom. I remember these two shows because the me all my buddies from Canada were there. Thank you for the love> stella>love never done before and the emotion from jerry still makes me cry.When you think of the journey of the dead it was magical and changed many lives for ever ,this show was an epic moment in me and my mothers life.How cool is that hanging with mom and the dead. how many people can say that.Worth a listen the best emotional stella ever.

While I'm aware there were more than a few still to come by the nineties I had slowed to seeing them about 5 times a year. This one was a Monday night in Cleveland. Decided to go that morning on a whim from Chi and got from the box office what I was told was the absolute last ticket available. Seeing the degree of frisking going on in about a half hour wait to get in, decided to return to car to surrender stash, just what I would need, get busted on a freakin Monday night in Cleveland. Noticed that by this point there were more DEA agents in the lot than people, not exagerating to say there were at least 100, as part of operation Dead end looking precisely like Deadheads, even in beat up cars. Incredibly maddening. Think this was at the point there were 2000 people in prison from the parking lot. So I'm pissed going in, get stuck next to the tie dyed jabbering teenage girls and the sound for the first two was way too far down, this not long after Bralove had taken over from Healy, a move I did not like, (Infrared Roses0 excepted). Then I heard those notes of one I'd been laying in ambush for since I'd seen they had restarted it recently, Same Thing. I could hear the teenage girls saying what is this like it was something that smelled band while whith my eyes closed and the volume slightly increasing I could easily see the muse start to work on the band and could tell it was that one that wouldn't let go, wouldn't matter what they played. Can't really explain how beautifully dirty the Same Thing sounded to me, undulating, mesmerizing, very sexy, cathartic. This was separating for the moment the Deadheads from the mall people via Metallica?, but ultimately all would be enjoined, you recall how the inclusive ritual works, quite amazing. Too late to get my hands on the disc here, wouldn't be surprised if its not all of that as sometimes occurs between real time and later. But it was the last time it was really worth the effort and great old Grateful surprise. God I love those guys.

I would listen to the 9-15-1982 Cap Center Stella Blue for one of what I think oneof Jerry's sweetest guitar leads. Both vocally and musically 9-15-82 is the best.
Other than that, to comment on this show, for a '94 show it is not bad. Definately worth having...too bad you can't download anymore.

the stella is awesome. where do you live in cleveland?

THIS STELLA BLUE IS GRATE AND REALLY DOSENT GET TO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS EXCEPT FOR MAYBE JERRY'S BIRTHDAY SHOW ON 08-01-1994 , CHECK OUT THAT STELLA AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF. THE REASON THIS MAY BE GRATER IS BECAUSE THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THE BOY'S EVER PLAYED
TURN ON YOUR LOVELITE>
STELLA BLUE>
TURN ON YOUR LOVELITE
GOTTA LOVE IT !!! THANK YOU , THANK YOU , THANK YOU !!!!!! MAYBE IM BIAS BECAUSE IM A OHIO HEAD (CLEVELAND) SHOWS DONT GET TO MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT THE BOY'S DID HERE !! HAHAHA

Maybe not the best, but one of the most emotional vocal stellas ever. Definitely the most emotional one in the vinnie era, which is actually saying a lot. Beats Shoreline, Boston, and Detroit 94 hands down. The "Nothing comes for free" line is an all time, all world, Garcia scream. They've been playing this song, probably the song of songs to him, for more than 20 years before this show and never, ever, does he sing that line with as much power. I am talking about vocals here people, not instrumentals. Good show.
Dstone5553@aol.com

Im not a fan of '94 shows becuase they all pretty much suck. Well, maybe not suck, but they certainly aren't the best. However, this show is probably one of the best from '94. Jerry seems like he is actually aware of what is going on, so that gets 2 stars. The sound quality is supurb, so theres 1 star. Peggy O, He's gone, and New Speedway Boogie are all done good, and I dont think Jerry flubbs anything in Peggy O, but there is some minor flubbing in Speedway. That gives it another star. Then theres the Vince factor. Minus 1 star. That brings the grand total to 3 stars. Even though I give it 3 stars I'll still burn it, since it is a change from 70's dead that I usually listen to.

Acoustic Jer all through the second set is nice and there are some high points call them vestigial remnants of this great monster - He's gone is wonderful. Quality is superb. Just precious little chi when compared with a million other shows - I got my one and only '94 out of the way.
ps You may have made one too many beer runs there is no let it grow on this.

review for stella only. Thanks to Tito and dmilks for actually commenting on the performances and cross referncing reviews to lead me to this Stella. Very inspired Stella. I prefer The palace a bit more, and my personal favorite, Shoreline 9/94 sat show. But since we all know 94 is abit of a drag, always good to find genius somewhere

First nite kicks too. maybe my favorite Let it grow!! I made many beer runs too.

get more stars just because the reviewer attended it. This one may a 3 star show in the grand sheme of the Dead, but sometimes I think consideration must be made to when the show occurred. Very few would likely say that the last few years of the Grateful Dead's shows were up to the bar that years past set. I only saw them 6 times (between '92 and '94) and had great times at each of them so they all get at least a star added for that. This one, however, seemed more playful, experimental, and spirited than any of the others that I saw. I think Jerry nails most if not all of the words to and upbeat Bertha. Tennesse Jed closes a solid first set that also included highlights of Queen Jane and West L.A. Fadeaway (which I was so proud to have called upon the first couple of notes). The second set featured a fun New Speedway, in which Jerry got most of the words, and a great He's Gone which sequed into a passage that was originally listed as a Liberty Jam on the 1st gen AUD a friend gave me shortly after the show. The undisputed pinnacle of the show came between two instances of Lovelight. The Stella Blue, despite the bickering below, is superb. Whether it's superb because Jerry pulled it together for a brief moment in 1994 or because he was just doing what he always has done, it was truly superb. If you were there it brought tears to your eyes and chills down your spine. The crescendo should remind us all that, beyond any talent that Garcia revealed, it is his soul and spirit that we all feed off of, and he openly shares both of those here. The Liberty encore was fun too.
I give it 5 stars just because of how grateful I am to have been there to see it, and because I want people to download it (I know I pay attention to the ratings).

Factman.thanks for recommending this show.I was there,but i dont seem to remember it.
If you can, find a good recording of "Stella"from 8/1/94 Auburn hills(Garcias birthday)i think you will like the soul jerry puts into that one.its better than this one a little bit.That being said,this IS a great "Stella".
awesome recording.
if you need auburn hills e-mail me crackjoneser@yahoo.com

I challenge ANYONE to find a better Stella Blue than the version from this show. He's Gone is certainly also worthy of mention, mostly for the smorgas-jam that followed the song-proper. Listen carefully and you'll hear parts of Mountain Jam, GDTRFB and later the Matilda arrangement that 'direwolf5' makes mention of.
The intro to Greatest is different in that Phil DOES NOT do his trademark bar-chord riff. Everything in the first set is very well-played for the time period. I know I was making numerous beer runs and taking the show for granted, with what I thought at the time would be 5 shows in Florida the next month. I don't recall whose idea it was, but for a good portion of the first set, the LOGE lounge was occupied by a healthy contingent of fellow Pittsburghers. It was pretty wild watching from behind-stage in the highest spot of the arena (the lounge was above the seating area and everything). I have a vague recollection of making for the lounge exit at the end of TJed (anticipating Promised Land to close) and being stopped in my tracks by Bobby's set-break announcement. While few people at the moment knew just how uncommon it was for Jed to be a set-closer, it certainly didn't go unnoticed.
I'm sure that the years haven't done much for people who didn't care for Picasso Moon THEN, but I will say that this was as close to peaking as that song got.
The remainder of the show clinches 3-21-94 a spot in the Richfield top 5, and easily the 1994 top 10. For only his 5th show doing FOH, Jon Cutler's results here are not too shabby. However, this show sounds better than I recall it sounding inside of the show.
Worth it overall, second set shouldn't be missed.

Of the 80 to 90 Dead shows I saw between 87 and 95, this is probably the one I wish I could have been at the most that I didn't make it to. Hearing that Stella just gives me chills every time...WOW, that is pure soul pouring out of the Fat-Man

This isn't as bad a show as some that have left their comments would like you to believe. There are quite a few fine moments with the Lovelight>Stella>Lovelight at the top of the list. The sound quality of the show is above average, and there is some fire in Jerry's voice and playing throughout the show that was often absent during Spring and Summer tour that year. This is at least a 2 1/2 star show, but I feel it merits a 3 star rating. For a perfect example of a 1 star show feel free to check out the first night from Birmingham 95 - by far the worst of over 70 shows I have seen from 86-95.

Ok boys dont be so hard on the Captain. You gotta admit Stella is fantastic, the playing is tight thoughout, and the recording is crisp. Y'all expect every show to be a "77 Cornell".

...there is no such thing as a 5 star 1994 show.
2 star's at best.
1 star for "crisp" SBD in a time alot of the boards seemed dull and muted AND...
1 star for the fact that jerry only sounded "a little" out of breath. it's too bad b/c jerry's voice was clear and clean in 94, just a bit held back and winded.

To the gentleman who poo-pooed this era. I wish I could transport him back to this Stella.
Awesome

I give this one star because it is a Grateful Dead show. Or at least the remains of the best band ever, but five stars for a 94 show? I think you all should listen to some earlier stuff. Even in 90 they were still really jammin', but 94 is like the dead with no Jerry, or occasional Jerry at best.
Make me sad to listen to 94 shows, glad I don't collect them.

this is known as a composite recording......where the audience is "bled" into the sbd using mics......there is no way to get clarity like this using mics....this is a nice recording!!!!! they sound excellente!! actually one of the best recordings i have ever heard! i can almost hear willie dixon singing along with "eternity" they kick ass on this 'should be' blues classic to be------bass is there.....it is all there waiting to hear the stella .......later headz pleez--fast forward the eternity to the 8 min. mark and listen to the mix-----jerry drops way down in volume then swoops up to da mountain!!!! krush groove!!! liberty is from an AUD source

Sound is super. Jerry's voice is right on. He's gone and Stella are proof of that.A must for download

This tape is not a sbd source. Any tape head tape head shoud be able to tell that. But on the positive side it's Great to have the show anyway. I was there and ran all the way up to the 3rd row for the Liberty enchore which was a song i loved at the time.

Good overall show with no real clunkers other then the transition between Greatest>Bertha. Jerry's guitar sounds solid and his voice is very emotional especially on He's Gone & Stella. The mix is sometimes frustrating. The bass is low and the high hats are almost non existent. But still a must get for an end of the GD experience.

Very sick show...Jerry sounds good for a 94'er...excellent bertha, queen jane, and peggy-o...a must get...peace

I happen to escape from my dreary college dorm to attend this unreal show at Richfield. We thought the He's Gone was unreal...Jerry in full emotional, big throated roar...but the Stella took the cake, with the sandwich and all. I can still see him reared back on his heels screaming Stella Blue...writing this send tingles throughout my body. What a moment! One of the best concert experiences I will ever have.

Five stars for the lovelight>stella>lovelight. I can definitely recommend downloading this portion of the show. ItÃÂs a personal favorite GD moment. I thought it would have made a great track on the So Many Roads box set, or maybe filler for a 90's Dick's Pick. Now I've got it anyway!!! Thanks!

Deadbase called this show the last true grateful dead performance. Lovelight is scorching and stella is fantastic. I still believe this version of stella is better than the one played on Jerry's B-Day a few months later.
The show itself has plenty of bumps and bruises but you will not be dissapointed.

Get this for the Stella Blue alone. Vocally one of the best Jerry ever sang, with heart-wrenching moans at the end.
And the whole show, while not looking great on paper, is really well played. A nice jam out of He's Gone has lots of teases, and hints at the summer bustout of Matilda.